Emmy Winner Predictions: Best Comedy Series

Nominees are pictured in alphabetical order.

My logic, summarily, remains the same as it was when I correctly predicted last year’s triumph: any six episodes of 30 Rock are likely to be better than any six episodes of any of the other nominees. “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Greenzo,” and “Cooter” are terrific episodes and the other three have more than their share of excellent moments. For the sake of analysis, let’s take a look at the other contenders. Curb Your Enthusiasm has a fine sample of episodes, just like any year – but along that line of thinking, it’s never been able to win, and has fewer nominations than ever this year. Same goes for Entourage, which despite surprise nominations for directing and supporting star Kevin Dillon, seems to be fending off many attacks from critics and fans alike that this season sucked (I’m not of that opinion, but I don’t get a vote). If Two and a Half Men ever won, people would go crazy, but I’ve heard that the episodes go over incredibly well at the voting panels because every once in a while they are in fact funny. And then there’s The Office, the only past winner besides “30 Rock” here and the only one with a shot in hell to take Tina Fey and company down. The season as a whole was unfulfilling, but the sampling is somewhat impressive: “Local Ad,” “Dinner Party”, and the two-part season finale “Goodbye Toby” are great while “Chair Model” is debatable and “Did I Stutter?” leaves something to be desired. It’s possible that the less subtle but still hilarious comedy of “The Office” could propel it to a win, but everything seems to add up to “30 Rock.” Important note to end on: if “Pushing Daisies” had in fact been nominated, this conversation would have a whole different spin.

Who should win (based on entire season): “30 Rock”
Who should win (based on individual episodes): “30 Rock”
Who will win: “30 Rock” (alternate: “The Office”)